EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 11 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 119 Whether relying on this tradition and regarding Jixia as a milestone in the intellectual life of pre-imperial China or dismissing it as a myth, the focus of scholarly discussion was put on the historical truth behind the traditional accounts. However, the facts are rather difficult to establish with any degree of certainty, first and foremost because of the scarcity of information and the late dating of relevant sources: with only one exception (Hanfeizi 韓非子 32), all of them come from the time of Han Wu-di’s 漢武帝 (r. 141–87 BCE) reign or later, e. g., Shiji 史記 , Yantielun 鹽鐵論 , Shuo yuan 說苑 , Xin xu 新序 and Zhong lun 中論 . The proposed paper revises the Jixia-related debates, while shifting the focus from the Warring States to Han 漢 (202 BCE — 220 CE) period. The question of historical precedent notwithstanding, the image of Jixia in the imperial texts is a product of the Han intellectual history and can be regarded as a primary source for its study. The paper will try to show the relevancy of this image to the Han literati and, in par- ticular, its link with the foundation, evolution, status and activity of the Han Imperial Academy Taixue 太 學 , and with the latter’s role in the Han bureaucratic system and intellectual life. Grebnev Yegor (University of Oxford) “Detachment” of Epigraphic Texts and Its Influence on Textual Exchange in Eastern Zhou China Key words: Eastern Zhou, epigraphy, textual exchange, commensurability, treasure texts As far as ancient texts on ritual bronzes are concerned, the idea of “text” as immaterial entity separable from its medium seems to appear much later than texts themselves. Even though bronze texts from the Western Zhou (11th-8th centuries BC) often contain self-referential messages, they refer to bronzes and not to texts, and it is difficult to imagine texts used as objects of economic exchange at this early period. However, this attitude changes visibly by the time when the square-shaped wine container hu of King Cuo of Zhongshan (d. ca. 313 BC) was cast. Its inscription refers to itself as a text and prescribes that it should be reproduced on both bronze and bamboo. Besides, seemingly related to this conceptual change is the proliferation of “treasure texts” whose value was partially derived from their connection to an imagined precious material medium. The idea of text as a material treasure might have facilitated economic exchange in texts, facilitating the commensurability of material wealth and previously immaterial knowledge and extending the circle of those interested in possessing copies of textual material beyond those who would use them immediately for reading and preservation of written knowledge. Guo Jinsong (Princeton University) Divine Numbers and Practical Techniques: Mathematizing the Changes in the Late Southern Song Key words: Mathematics, Changes (Yijing), Numerology, Divination, Late Southern Song Premodern Chinese mathematical knowledge and numerological divination had a much closer relation than have been acknowledged. This paper explores the affinity between the two traditions by looking at the late Southern Song discussion about the “procedure of divining with stalks” (shifa 筮法 ) and the origin of its key numerical elements (e. g. the number of Great Extension or Dayan 大衍 , namely 50), which was in part stimulated by Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 (1130–1200) proposal of re-reading the Yi 易 (Changes) as a text of divi- nation. While these topics attracted classical scholars, diviners and mathematicians alike, the paper focuses particularly on arguments offered by two figures, Yang Zhongfu 楊忠輔 (active 1185–1206) and Qin Jiushao 秦九韶 (1208–1261), who were among among the best mathematicians and astronomers of the time. I try to unravel how and why they approached the textual and numerological problems as mathematical ones. Yang and Qin, I argue, effectively redefined the numerical structure of Yi divination as a source of mathematical knowledge that can be applied to cosmological comprehension as well as practical techniques. The divine numbers and divinatory procedures, in this manner, became more accessible and also more useful. For Qin in particular, reference to the Yi helped articulating his famous formulation of Chinese remainder theorem in an authoritative tone. Yang and Qin’s engagement with the Yi defies the later Chinese distinction between